There is an urgent need for awareness regarding the development and promotion of education. The question we have to ask is, do we want a large quantitative society or a relatively bright, promising and qualitative community? It is in our best interest to yearn for a worthy society through pragmatic, measurable and achievable programs.

The African Youth Education Initiative that began years ago in Hamburg was tailored to empower Africans in Germany to take tertiary education seriously. Go to school, learn a trade or study. Get a good job, pay their taxes, be happy people, and make Germany and their birth country great.

The aim of the RHENSIUS-KROHN-AYE PREIS; is to encourage and motivate parents of African heritage to be committed to their children’s schooling, particularly at the primary school level. Those who supplement teachers’ efforts at early stages turn to nature brilliant kids. Be a great parent and win 500€!

Individuals and institutions making a meaningful impact in the communities are acknowledged every year.

Challenges:The AYE scheme has been evolving rapidly; we have more than 500 people in attendance, although the Albert-Schäfer-Saal in the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, "IHK", can contain only about 300 people. At 7pm the hall was completely full. The above is a clear indication that organizers are confronted with new challenges.

It was uncomfortable and humiliating to have people travel as far as Kassel, Berlin and Munich and not be able to enter the hall, as at one point the hall had to be closed, and those who came out could no longer be allowed in. The likelihood that more people will attend is high.

In the process of creating educational awareness, motivating young people and showcasing role models, organizers have succeeded in creating an institution, a tradition and a unique platform. This can be used to achieve multiple purposes, such as encouraging more Africans to actively participate in day-to-day politics.

A befitting, bigger hall is needed, and more finance will be required to administer, plan and execute such professional projects. In addition, more committed and professionals are needed. Such projects can no longer be coordinated with a low budget and solely on a voluntary basis. There is a need to raise more funds to be able to meet the high expectations.

AYEA – Schleswig Holstein: What is good for Hamburg is good for Stuttgart and Berlin, so the project will be taking off in other major cities in phases. This will be done in collaboration with community leaders on the ground. Communities first have to build dedicated and trustworthy teams. Locations must be excellent.

Masters & PhD Students:Unlike the young students who are being motivated and encouraged to push further, there must be clear guidelines, categories and a board in place to nominate and select Master’s and PhD students. Currently, the organizers are reluctant to accept the challenge, citing capacity inabilities.

Successors:The younger generation isn’t ready to work for less remuneration or be unsalaried. We do understand their concern; however, if care is not taken we might have to start all over again. TopAfric e.V. needs to restructure and strengthen its foundation to enhance her chances of sustaining the ever-growing AYE project."You are successful until you have successful successors"

The attempt to effectively monitor and provide the old AYEA students with information that will help them address their day-to-day problems has not been successful. We have failed in assessing and recruiting them into the pool of expertise available to us and the community at large.

Yes we want to succeed, but we can only succeed together.Donations: Individuals and institutions who make donations will be provided with a donation receipt, “Spendenquitung”, to enable them to claim their money back from the Tax Office – “Finanzamt”.

Hamburger Sparkasse (HASPA) a prominent bank situated in Hamburg, Germany, donated the sum of 2.000 € (Two thousand euros) to IMIC e.V on the 14th of November 2013. The donation from Haspa was given to Mrs. Sylvaina Gerlich, Chairlady of IMIC, by Mr. Andreas Meyer during an award ceremony at the Walddörfer sports club. Mrs. Bettina Behrens, leader of the branch located at Bramfelder chaussee 493 was also present.

This donation originated from the lottery-savings Sparkasse customers. Customers can win up to 50.000€ with a 1,00€ input every month. The lottery costs five euros and four euros gets saved from there. 25cents is donated to a good non-profit organizations such as Brakula, Freiwilligenboerse, and IMIC.

With 2,5million euros collected, over 100 non-profit organizations in Hamburg benefit from this lottery system every year. Each organization is recommended by a Haspa branch.

In recent years Educational researchers have made it clear, that Educational opportunities are related to Origin or Race in which one belongs to. A typical example is Joshua Lupemba, whose mother is from Ghana and his father from Congo.

He and his sister were raised by his mother alone. He said his mother did the best she could but, she couldn´t help him concerning his education because she wasn´t that much educated herself. He said even before he was 10 his teachers have written him off, they told him he was good in sports and not in Maths.

Lupemba´s story is common among the immigrants community not only here in Germany but all over the world. The children are often not given a chance to prove their ability and this later leads to frustration. For example the kids stop attending classes or become rebellious against their teachers. This leads to kids dropping out of school for no reason.

It is also the responsibility of parents to serve as Role models for their children. A Role model is an individual who is looked up to and revered by someone else. A role model is someone who other individuals aspire to be like, either in the present or in the future.The presence of a role model especially a father figure is very important for the upbringing of a child. A child needs someone to look up to for counseling and guidance

Parents are in constant search for a livelihood but in the search they forget the most important thing, which are their children. I know of a 6yr old girl who hardly sees her mother, because her mum has several jobs. When there is nobody to monitor them, they start moving with the wrong set of people and involve in activities such as taking drugs, spending the whole day on the internet and in the worst case end up in jail.

We can put some blame on the German educational system for not giving our children enough chances and opportunities, but if we as parents are there for our kids to comfort them in difficult times, they will surely make it. Our children are our future; we should make them our priority and every other thing will come after. Am using this opportunity to beg the dads out there: please be there for your children, they need you to guide and protect them. And last but not least they need you as a mentor and as a role model.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to introduce one of our energetic radio presenters at Topafric Radio, nineteen year old Christian Kenou. Christian studied media at the Media school of Hamburg, Germany. He co-hosts the show called “Hot List” with Bola every Monday between 6pm – 8pm German time.

Christian is a very energetic young man with the ability to be the life of any party. He has the genuinely to effortlessly entertain you endlessly. He is like the energizer bunny; he keeps going and going and going.

He loves listening to rap music, boxing, jogging, cooking and most especially dancing. He aspires to be a big and popular radio host with the passion to bring the best out of up and coming artists in and around Germany.

Watch out for him because the sky is the limit for this very important.

The Hamburg "Bündnis gegen Rechts" (alliance against the right wing) called out for a loud protest against the NPD election in the Central Station, which starts at 12 o clock today, opposite the Kunsthalle. They asked people to overtone the Nazi- Slogans, with whistles, vuvuzelas, drums, cooking pots, etc.

Reason for this noise demonstration is the primitive campaigning Style of the NPD party. They have been campaigning repeatedly for weeks with negative propagandas against foreigners. Their propaganda includes words like "stop the asylum flood", "spend your money on grandma, instead of the Sinti and Roma" and many more hatered propagandas against foreigners.

What Mayor Olaf Scholz (55, SPD), said last year, also applies for today and the future: "Hamburg stands against the right wing, and all are welcome to show: That we are many - and we're the good ones.

So everyone grab your cooking pots, vuvuzelas, and whistles and let’s make noise against the Nazis!!!

Mr Azo guy aka DJ Azote did his 35th birthday bash Saturday 31.08.13 at “Umdenkbar” a renowned club in Hamburg. The party was well organized, but as we all know, our black community have their own Watch ”African Time”. People started coming in at 1 o’clock.

The club atmosphere was very nice, the ambiance was also beautiful. As you know the title of the event was Afro ladies night but it turned out to be a multicultural event. There were people from Italy, Ivory Coast, Turkey, Cameroon, Togo etc…All the ladies were looking beautiful as usual.

Dj Madman also spinned that day, he played the best and finest in Afrobeats and everyone danced and danced till mama came calling.

The Diasporas is not only an integral part of the Ghanaian community, but plays a significant role in the socio-economic development of our beloved country. I think at any giving opportunity we must interact and explain government policies to our people. And I am more than delighted in doing this.

The Ghanaian Minister for Works and Labor Relationship, Hon. Nii Armah Ashitey, was in Hamburg Germany on a short private visit to participate in this year’s Homowo festival. Nevertheless took the opportunity to meet the Ghanaian Community in Hamburg.

Among the several questions he took was, if there is a reliable statistic on the labour market, the electoral challenges in Ghana. Job creation, more particularly among the university graduates, attitude to work, corruption and other matters.

He opined that it was a shared responsibility and challenge to formulate and implement policies to see how the issues of unemployment amongst the youths will be addressed as long as he heads the Ministry.

Why is it that you people remain in your five star hotels, refusing to dialogue with your people? "I must confess, everything in our country has become politics, people in higher institutions or positions are extremely careful as to what to say. If the president on official visits has time to meet his people, I think we ministers must do likewise.

On the issue of corruption, he admitted it has become a nation canker; we concur and sympathize’ every bad thing in our system. The fight is not however lost, if we could discontinue and discourage this fast spreading evil. Most often people assume, only people in higher positions are the bad nuts in our society. The driver giving the policeman bribe is as corrupt as the police officer.

The challenges are much, but we must endeavor to succeed. On the issue of the highest level of corruption at the entry ports, which affects almost all Diasporas; he insisted, the home coming Ghanaians should try to contact the appropriate institutions so as to be updated with current information.

On the issue of the electoral challenges facing the country, the learned judges are mandated by the constitution to take decisions that are in the paramount interest of Ghana.

The participants also suggested to the honorable minister to understudy the German dual system of education that has known only success all these years. Emphasis should be on training skilled labour, like carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other trades.

He thanked the gathering for their high sense of maturity. We have only one country in the name of Ghana.

Africans have a serious problem of always being late and it is hindering us from moving forward. It is a cause for concern. In some cases it is fashionable to be late but definitely not a fashion to boast or brag about. Being late is the character of a lazy, un-organized and discombobulated individual.

This has fast become a part of our entire community and desperately needs to be addressed. Is it life threatening? The answer is NO. Is it a habitual problem? YES. Does it benefit us as a community? I say “Absolutely NOT”.

Sometimes it is referred to as “African Time” but I will label it a disease and name it “Africans Always Late Syndrome” (AALS).

This disease runs widely through the African community. Do I hear a guilty laugh? Are you one of those that fall in the 90% group diagnosed with this syndrome?

Think about it …

How many times did you wake up at 6am (giving yourself an extra hour) to get ready for work and did not leave your house until 7:55am despite the fact that you have to be at work at 8am?

How many times did you ever have the pleasure of seeing the bride and groom actually arrive on time to their own wedding ceremony?

How many times did you ever make it on time to your doctor’s appointment?

How many times did you tell a friend or date that you were on your way when you know damn well that you still needed to hit the shower?

How many times have you shown up for party two or more hours later than the time it was scheduled to begin?

How many flights have you missed and convinced yourself it was traffic when you know you could have planned better?

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. This is not to you Africans who are almost always on time but I can bet that your boyfriend, husband, girlfriend or wife, brother or sister should be reading this article. Yes, I mean the one who runs late to almost every event.

AALS (African Always Late Syndrome) poses a potential problem in our African community and hinders our growth in a society where time is money.

Imagine not being chosen for a lead position at your job because you are always 2 minutes late for work. You think people don’t notice? They do.

Imagine always coming late to church. You think it’s cool to make a grand entrance? Not in the eyes of the Almighty God!

You just might be late for your own salvation and miss your opportunity into the Promised Land.

Imagine arriving late on your first date with a friend or someone of interest. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

How about that job interview? Being late could easily ruin your chances.

What we owe each other is respect

We cannot keep expecting that everyone else will be late to a function. No matter how you see it, it is a bad habit. We need to reflect within ourselves in order to fix this problem of time and lateness and not dwell on the fact that Africans are always late so it’s acceptable, because it is not.

I don’t know about you, but I hate waiting on people so I don’t make them wait on me. This is about respecting someone else’s time.

If you say you will meet someone at 3pm, be there at 3pm. If you show up at 3:30pm, then you show no respect for the other person’s time. They could have been doing something else other than waiting for you.

In a worst case scenario, if you try your best to be punctual and circumstances simply don’t permit you to be on time, then call the waiting party and be honest as to where you are as well as when you think you might arrive. That is showing respect.

It is time we realize that little things such as AALS (Africans Always Late Syndrome) can lead to bigger issues that might not be solvable. I will like to challenge all of you reading my point of view to go to your next event on time. Do not be late.

I’m sure many other people will like to learn about your on-time experience so drop a comment below

The management of TopAfric Radio today played host to organisers of Miss Culture Africa Germany at Wansbeker Chaussee, Hamburg -Germany. The organisers of the Miss Cultural Africa, -MCA, used the visit to solicit the cooperation of the African Community and other race ahead of the grand finale of the pageant slated for Friday the 2nd of August 2013.

Also they appear on the popular program AFRICA LSITEN which is hosted by Kwadwo Yeboah BREMAN:Receiving the organisers of Miss Cultural Africa Germany beauty pageant, the Programs Director Tony Airhenbuwa commended the initiative of the pageant to partner with the Station, he expressed delight over the nature of the beauty pageant said the caliber of the beauty queens who will be participating in the pageant, shows that the event is of International standard and will portray the rich African culture.

TopAfric is known for quality programs and events aimed at improving the society, hence the need to partner for the success of the Miss Cultural Africa Beauty Pageant Germany.

Organizers of Miss Culture Africa Pageant thanked the management of TopAfric Radio for the audience.Also the organizers of Miss Cultural Africa pointed grey areas of the beauty pageant said is a non-bikini pageant aimed at celebrating beauties with brain and discourages indecent dressing amongst African students and to Show the rich cultures Africa have to the rest of the world.

They pointed out that the visit was a guided tour of TopAfric Radio digital transmitting facilities and to annouce to the world of the upcoming Event which will be Held in Germany, Le Royale Eventsaal Hermann-Buck Weg.

On air were: Ariking Omini, Lilian Kunu, PhilCollins Kwaku Agbedanu, Twelve Stones, DJ Ruffy.Artist who will be there to perform are Nana Acheampong, Kelly Handsome, Ogene Nze; Culture Music of Africa and Shidodo.

The mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Schulz said that the African asylum seekers have no future and perspective in Hamburg.

Now Pastor Sieghard Wilm (47) from St Pauli church, who has granted about 70 men Asylum in his church, took to his own initiative and started making a St Pauli ID cards for the Asylum seekers. The ID cards are supposed to function as an alternative to a passport.

One of the asylum seekers, with the cards told NDR “one day, six of us were at St Pauli and the police controlled us, but when we showed them our St Pauli cards they left us alone”. One can say that the cards are indeed effective, but Hamburg’s police spokesman said “the pseudo-identity cards are of no relevance to the police, and they can never replace a passport”. So the question now is who is fooling who?

Can’t Asylum Seekers be treated as normal human beings and with some dignity?

Seeing Tomorrow Today is the Key to Success! The African Youth Education Award Project is a youth developmental initiative designed to promote innovative and positive changes in the African communities in Germany. “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today” And if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Fact:Young immigrants of African origin in Germany have low educational level. A relatively large proportion of these kids rarely achieve the A level -/Abitur, besides a large proportion of them end up at junior secondary school or drop out completely. This is quite disturbing.

Another major problem is the lack of incentive to these kids. It must however be noted that motivation is crucial for success in the educational system, It has not been possible for the German school system to compensate for these deficiencies in school children of African descent.

Children from African homes have significantly little or no motivation to learn as compared to children of German origin. One of the reasons is the lack of role a models in the African communities. The consequences are, among others, the lack of integration and participation in society.

Goal:The aim of the project is to raise the educational and professional achievements of young African origin by empowerment approach. The awareness of students of African origin on the importance and significance of education for their social and professional integration in Germany.

In the nutshell the project is to motivate African kids in Germany to study and constantly bring them into contact with role models in the society.

Eligible for Awards:Africans who have successfully completed a vocation -/ trade in GermanyAll first year university students in Germany with African background

Venue:The 2nd African Youth Education Award is taking place in Hamburg at the Albert-Schäfer-Saal, “IHK” Adolphsplatz 1, 20457 Hamburg. The date is Saturday 19 of October 2013; the program begins at 18.00 – 22.00

Organizers are grateful to the following institutions and people for their relentless assistance: